Prophage-encoded immune evasion factors are critical for Staphylococcus aureus host infection, switching, and adaptation

Staphylococcus aureus is a multi-host pathogen that causes infections in animals and humans globally. The specific genetic loci—and the extent to which they drive cross-species switching, transmissibility, and adaptation—are not well understood. Here, we conducted a population genomic study of 437 S. aureus isolates to identify bacterial genetic variation that determines infection of human and animal hosts through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using linear mixed models. We found genetic variants tagging φSa3 prophage-encoded immune evasion genes associated with human hosts, which contributed ∼99.9% of the overall heritability (∼88%), highlighting their key role in S. aureus human infection. Furthermore, GWAS of pairs of phylogenetically matched human and animal isolates confirmed and uncovered additional loci not implicated in GWAS of unmatched isolates. Our findings reveal the loci that are critical for S. aureus host transmissibility, infection, switching, and adaptation and how their spread alters the specificity of host-adapted clones.